


Hell

by maraudersgirl47



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hell, M/M, Oneshot, Profound Bond, Season 4 and beyond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-01
Updated: 2013-10-01
Packaged: 2017-12-28 02:58:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maraudersgirl47/pseuds/maraudersgirl47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas recalled Hell very differently to Dean. He had managed to see something within the darkness that Dean had not, something that was much stronger than any demons taint or devils vision.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Hell

Cas recalled Hell very differently to Dean.

Dean held all the torture at the forefront of his mind, both what had been done to him and what he had inflicted upon others.

All the blood that was shed, all the screams that rang unholy, the constant darkness of endless pain, violence, torment, all of it Dean pushed to the back of his mind, locking it away in some tight box hoping to ignore it until he was inevitably dragged back down there again.

Cas could remember the same. Smell the stench of demon closing in on every side, feel the irrepressible force of gloom and death as he wandered in the gallows of abomination.

But that wasn’t what Cas focused on.

For Cas had managed to see something within Hell that Dean had not, something that was much stronger than any demons taint or devils vision.

Castiel had managed to see _Dean._

Cas had slashed his way through countless tainted souls, the feel of claws digging into him every step, as he watched his brothers, kin who had been with him his entire creation, fall to their heartrending demise. Or worse, be kept alive and pinned for the rest of eternity on a wall, pocked and prodded, skinned and shredded until the demons found no more amusement in torture; if that time would ever come.

After baring witness to all of that, losing all tangible reasons to hope, to believe, to have faith, it was then that Cas was confronted with a sight that would eradicate it all.

The brightest light he had ever seen, the glow of something so strong, so pure, that not even the despair of Hell had managed to destroy it. An unbroken soul. Just one soul. _Dean’s_ soul.

Few had volunteered to venture into Hell for Michael’s mission. Even fewer had made it this far, most having already fled, or died. Cas watched as the minimal set of his brothers that remained continued to hack their way through demon scum, their actions showing no difference to anything they had already revealed. How could they not react when there was such a sight to be held right before them? How could they ignore such a blatant sign that their work, their Father’s work, could create something so _good?_

 It was as Cas dropped another bout of demons into nothing that he realized. His brothers could not see it. Could not see the beauty so clearly laid before them. It was only for him, his eyes and his eyes alone.

Cas figured it was probably the fact that he could see what he was truly fighting for, that helped him outlast any of his brothers. He was the last left standing, the last Angel stranded, he could hear the torment around him, the taunts falling from devil lips as they jeered at him. They thought they had won, that he would surrender, but how could he fall when he had yet to claim what he was seeking?

Cas could feel the surprise rippling around him as he managed to draw his blade another time and continue to fight. He felt the shock tear through demon after demon as they fell to his hand.  
Cas felt the demons own weapons tearing at his being, ripping through his wings, clutching at his face, trying it all to hold him back. But Cas was too far gone, too far lost to what lay before him that nothing short of fatal would cause him to deter.

When Cas finally made it to what he was seeking, the light that managed to keep him afloat now and for many years to come, his hands were drenched in more than blood. They were covered in pain, sorrow and times long forgotten. But it didn’t matter, none of it would be as important as the soul in front of him was about to become.

Cas wasn’t currently aware of the process he was _supposed_ to follow. Instead he did the only thing that made any reasonable amount of sense, he clutched at the soul before him, clung to it with every ounce of power that he retained, binding it to his own grace.

The fires that tore around Castiel as the demons made one last attempt to thwart him burned hotter than any flame he had ever suffered. The blaze ripped at him, attacked him, molested at his wings and attempted to drag him down.

But it wasn’t successful; Cas doubted any dark force would spoil him again, as long as he retained this precious being he had exposed.

Cas lost his vision of the dark world around him at some point, the world shining to an impressive white instead. When Cas found himself perched on the edge of Heaven, the battered remains of a soul clinging to him still, Cas rebuilt the body instinctually. As if he had always known the face that would soon become so familiar to him. The heart that he would one day trade everything for.  

Cas rebuilt Dean and set him back where he belonged; he’d already disobeyed countless orders while he traveled through Hell, what harm could one more do?

Leaving his mark on the man who called himself Dean Winchester, Cas watched as he clawed his way back to his family. A father not by blood but by bond, and a brother who was worth more to him than the world.

Cas bide his time until he went to Dean himself. Having an unexplainable urge to impress when he finally travelled to Dean’s side.

Cas would never forget the first conversation he had with Dean, or any of the others that would succeed it. Cas wouldn’t realize until much later the significance of the bond he’d already laid to Dean’s soul, not being aware that such a bond couldn’t be forged unless the soul in question was willing to submit to it.

Cas would one day try to explain to Dean why he didn’t always shy away from the memory of Hell, what it was that he had seen down in the pit that had pulled him through. But no words would ever do justice to the brilliance of Dean’s soul.

It didn’t really matter though, how either of them still envisioned Hell. They had both survived its horrors, clawing their way back to the surface, the help of the other being so much more than either of them realizing.

Hell was different for both of them, but it was still Hell.

Even so, it was the place where they’d been bound. The place where they had collided together to start a whole chain of events that would turn the world on its head more times than anyone had ever planned.

They’d both been to Hell, survived, and been spat out the other side stronger than before.

They may have been dragged down there separately, but when they were set free, they escaped resolutely, together.

 


End file.
